A video has been obtained by The Sun showing a crossbow-wielding man in a hoodie and mask threatening to “assassinate the Queen in revenge for the 1919 Amritsar massacre”.
The footage emerged after a 19-year-old intruder was arrested by police inside the grounds of Windsor Castle on Christmas Day.
As Jaswant Singh Chail is shown to have uploaded the pre-recorded video to Snapchat at 8:06am on Christmas Day, just 24 minutes before the arrest made inside the royal grounds, he is suggested as being the suspect.
The man in the footage holds a black crossbow and using a filter to distort his voice says:
“I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I've done and what I will do. I will attempt to assassinate Elizabeth, Queen of the Royal Family. This is revenge for those who have died in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. It is also revenge for those who have been killed, humiliated and discriminated on because of their race. I'm an Indian Sikh, a Sith. My name was Jaswant Singh Chail, my name is Darth Jones.”
It is believed that “Sith” is a reference to villains in Star Wars franchise, while “Darth Jones” could relate to James Earl Jones who voiced Darth Vader – the primary antagonist.
The outfit worn by the man, as well as the framed picture of Star Wars character Darth Malgus visible in the background, add to the Star Wars ‘motif’.
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, or Massacre of Amritsar, occurred on 13 April 1919, when British troops fired on a large unarmed crowd protesting against the arrest of pro-Indian independence leaders in the Punjab region of India, killing 379 people and wounding 1,200 others.
Besides the footage, the man also sent a message on Snapchat stating:
“I’m sorry to all of those who I have wronged or lied to. If you have received this then my death is near. Please share this with whoever and if possible get it to the news if they’re interested.”
According to Scotland Yard, detectives are studying the footage posted on social media ahead of the Christmas Day incident at the Queen residence.
The 95-year-old monarch was marking her first Christmas without her husband of 73 years Prince Philip, who died aged 99 in April. Amid concerns about the pandemic and soaring COVID-19 cases across the nation, a decision had been taken by Buckingham Palace that the Queen should stay in Windsor Castle and not travel to Sandringham, as is traditional.
Police are yet to release the name of the suspect arrested shortly after 8.30am on 25 December after he was spotted on CCTV. The man had scaled an outer wall and was crossing the grounds of Windsor Castle, where Queen Elizabeth II was spending Christmas Day in the company of her eldest son Charles, Prince of Wales, and his wife, Camilla.
Police confirmed a crossbow was found after the intruder, who, according to cited sources, appeared “not to know what to do with himself” was arrested.
There is no indication the intruder was known for making threats to any members of the Royal Family before the incident, which is being taken “extremely seriously.” Crossbows require no licence or registration.
Police are said to have searched the Southampton home of the suspect, where he resides with his family.
“The family keep themselves to themselves, like the rest of the estate, but we know there’s a teenage lad who lives there with his mum and dad. The police didn’t leave the estate until late at night,” a neighbour was cited as saying.
Police are reportedly looking into how the man was able to breach the spiked perimeter fence of Windsor castle. The Mail on Sunday said the man had likely used a rope ladder to gain access from the Long Walk, located in an area of parkland that can be accessed by members of the public. Furthermore, an internal security review will be held after the incident.
Retired chief superintendent Dai Davies, the former head of royal protection at Scotland Yard, was cited as saying:
“Since the time of George III, 99 percent of attacks against members of the Royal Family have involved a fixated person, or stalker. And the news that a crossbow was involved actually scares me. They will go through a windscreen.”
There have been similar incidents in the past. In 1982 an unemployed Londoner, Michael Fagan, entered the Queen's private chambers at Buckingham Palace while she was in bed before being apprehended by police.
According to a story in The Times, Fagan climbed into the palace through an unchecked window in the offices of Vice Admiral Sir Peter Ashmore, despite “recent security reviews” and more than 20 officers who guarded the palace 24 hours a day.
More recently, a woman posing as a guest entered the home of Prince Andrew, Royal Lodge on the Windsor Great Park estate. After first being detained by security, she was eventually sectioned under the Mental Health Act.